Elyse Frenchman

Elyse Frenchman is a documentary filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Most recently, she produced Fragments of Paradise, premiering at the Venice Film Festival 2022. She’s worked on several films for HBO and MSNBC, including, "The Soul of America"; "True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality" (Peabody Award; Emmy for Outstanding Social issue Documentary; NAACP Image Award); "King in the Wilderness" (Emmy Award for Outsanding Historical Documentary). At 20, Elyse received grants from MIT and NYU to make her first documentary, "Citify", which examined rapid urbanization in China—a phenomenon she witnessed over two decades growing up between Beijing and Boston. The film screened at The World Forum on Urban Regeneration in Shanghai and the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall. Elyse is also an advocate for criminal justice reform—she works with incarcerated folks to prepare them for parole hearings, and films and edits pre-trial advocacy videos to make the case to DAs and judges for reduced sentences and alternatives to incarceration. Elyse received her BA at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU. She’s a former professional figure skater, aspiring slam poet and cave exploring enthusiast.